


Peace When You Are Done: Supernatural Finale Rewrite (end of 15x19-15x20)

by cargeelreels



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, M/M, Season/Series 15 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:49:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28637277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cargeelreels/pseuds/cargeelreels
Summary: Join Team Free Will 2.0 on their last mission to free Castiel from the Empty (in what I think should've been the last episode of season 15 instead of whatever the hell episode 20 was).Perspective: 3rd person omniscient
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester
Kudos: 7





	Peace When You Are Done: Supernatural Finale Rewrite (end of 15x19-15x20)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends! Welcome to how I think the 15-year-long Supernatural saga should've ended! The story picks up towards the end of episode 19--"Inherit the Earth"--right after Chuck has been killed, where it shifts over to my version. It's split into two parts: 15x19 "Inherit the Earth (revamped)" and 15x20 "Peace When You Are Done." Hope you enjoy!

**END OF 15x19: “Inherit the Earth (revamped)”**

The streets were empty. Barren. Sam, Dean, and Jack passed nothing but open buildings and abandoned cars as they drove by in the Impala. The world was a hollow shell, carved out by God in what was supposed to be his ‘perfect ending.’

But the trio was far from hollow themselves. Sam and Dean were brimming with hope, with satisfaction for what they’d finally accomplished, what they’d finally achieved:

Freedom. 

And Jack, Jack was filled with something else. Churning inside him was the power of God himself: absorbed from the tyrannical deity when he’d tried to end them. Instead, it’d been turned against him, bringing an end to Chuck instead of the world. 

Dean brought the Impala to a stop and cut the engine. As they stepped out, he turned to Jack. 

“Alright kid, you really think you can pull this off?” 

Jack didn’t bother to nod. He simply closed his eyes. 

In the glimmer of a second, where there had been nothing, no one, there was everyone. As quickly as they’d disappeared, the population of the Earth returned. People were flowing in and out of restaurants, cars revving as they started, and kids playing in the parks. People picked up conversations just as they’d left them; it was as if they’d been gone for a moment instead of days. 

The trio took a moment to admire the scene. 

“Way to go,” Dean said with a chuckle. 

Sam turned back to Jack. “So does this mean you’re the new…I mean, what do we call you?”

Jack gave him a thoughtful look. It took him a moment to register the question. His mind had wandered--no, not just wandered, floated--lifting above the sky. However, instead of seeing less the further he ascended, he saw more. The world extended out in front of him, almost like a map, except he could see everything and everyone below. He watched them walk, sing, dance, and do all that humans did. He felt them laugh, cry, and feel all that humans feel. Somehow, he was witnessing every moment of every life on Earth.

No, not just life on Earth. As he lifted up further, he could see Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory--all the other worlds and all of their inhabitants. 

It took him a moment to ground himself, to focus on where he was, who he was with. 

“I--” he hesitated, “I don’t know.”

Dean’s brow creased. “Are you alright?” 

Jack paused, then nodded. Then he shook his head, only to nod again. 

“I’m everywhere,” he said instead, “I feel everything. I see everything.”

“Everything?” Dean’s expression shifted from relieved to concern. “You can see Heaven, Hell, Earth--the whole shebang?” 

“Like it’s all laid out in front of me,” Jack answered. 

“Can you see  _ everyone _ ?” 

Jack closed his eyes. “Yes.” 

Dean looked as though he was about to say something else, but instead ,he pursed his lips. His face darkened, burdened by the question he needed--but couldn’t--ask. 

Finally, he did. “Can you see him?” 

Jack’s brow creased as he racked his too-full mind for who he was talking about. “Who--”

Sam looked at his brother knowingly. “Cas,” he answered for him, “Can you see Cas?”

Jack’s heart ached at the name. He hadn’t been there to see him go, but Dean had. 

Dean had watched helplessly as his angel had been swallowed whole by the Empty. He was gone in less than a minute, leaving Dean with nothing more than a confession he hadn’t processed. A confession he wished, more than anything, he could’ve returned. He’d spent the whole night in that room, on the cold grey floor, staring at the wall as three words echoed in his mind, three words he should’ve said, but couldn’t push past his lips. 

Jack swallowed. “I can try.” 

He closed his eyes and the world opened to him. He pushed away Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, and the Earth as he zeroed in on the large, black void.  _ The Empty _ . 

The moment he entered, he got the creeping feeling he was trespassing. This wasn’t his and hadn’t been God’s domain: it was theirs--the Empty’s. 

He brushed over countless angels and demons, lying soundly asleep across the dark expanse. He flicked through thousands in seconds until he reached the one he was looking for: the messy-haired angel in a dirty trench coat. 

“I can,” Jack breathed. 

Dean looked up, the darkness on his face fading, replaced by a shining speck of hope. 

“Can you reach out to him? Talk to him? How is he?” 

“He’s asleep,” Jack grimaced. The closer he tried to get to him, the more obscured he became, like he was fading into the darkness around him, “But restless. There’s something...I don’t know.”

“Can you call out to him? Can you wake him?” Dean’s voice was edged with desperation he didn’t care to mask.

_ Cas,  _ Jack said to the Empty,  _ Can you hear me? _

His words dissipated through the Empty, but as they spread, they became disjointed. They were unrecognizable by the time they reached the angel. 

Jack shook his head. 

_ Cas _ , he called again, this time more forcefully,  _ I can see you. We’re here for you. _

His words went further, this time reaching his ears. They were still warbly and faded, but he flinched when he heard the noise. 

Jack shook his head again. 

Before either of them fully realized what he was doing, Dean grabbed Jack’s arm. 

“Cas!” Dean yelled, as if he could use Jack as a link to him. Actually, if he wanted to be, he could. With a flicker of power, Jack turned himself into a link. Their friend's name echoed through Jack’s ears and then through the Empty, through to Cas. 

The angel's eyes fluttered. 

“Keep going,” Jack told Dean. 

“Cas! Wake up! Please,” Dean shouted again. The words, so forceful and clear, finally seemed to reach him. 

They did. After a series of illegible sounds, lightly piercing his sleep, Castiel heard something he could make out, spoken in the voice he’d feared--but accepted--that he’d never hear again. 

“It’s me,” Dean yelled, “It’s--”

Cas’s eyes flew open. “Dean,” he breathed. 

**15x20: “Peace When You Are Done”**

“We have to get him back,” Dean said firmly. He slammed the door to the bunker shut once he, Sam, and Jack were inside. He rushed past them, down the stairs, to the thick wooden table, surrounded by bookshelves, in the middle of the room. 

“I would go in a heartbeat if I could,” Jack said, “But I can’t travel there. It’s not in my domain.” 

Dean turned to the books ringing the room. He began rapidly pulling them from the shelves and tearing into them. 

“Then we have to make some kind of portal,” he spun to Sam, “Did Rowena teach you anything about that?” 

Sam shook his head. “But she probably knows something. I’ll go grab her.” 

“Don’t worry, I got it,” Jack said, already picking her out in Hell. In the blink of an eye, he was there and back, with the Queen of Hell in tow. 

“Blimey,” Rowena stumbled as she tried to catch her footing, nearly tripping over the hem of her pink dress. Her eyes roved over the room wildly. “What’s all this then?” 

“We need your help.”

When Same spoke, her gaze landed and stayed on him. 

“Cas is in the Empty, we need to make a portal to go in and get him back.” 

Rowena’s brow furrowed. “Since when?” she looked from Sam to Jack to Dean. “What have you three gotten yourselves into?”

They filled her in quickly, sketching out the rough details of everything that’d happened with Amara, Billie, Chuck, and everything else. When they got to the mass disapparation, Sam’s thoughts turned to Eileen. He assumed she was alright, but he’d have to call her the second he got the chance. 

Rowena blanched “You killed God?” she turned to Jack. “And now you’re him?” 

“You can still call me Jack.”

“What about Amara?” 

Jack’s brow creased. “I--I don’t know.” he’d tried reaching out to her through the power that flowed through him, but he couldn’t find her. “She’s gone. All that’s left is her power.”

She shook her head. “With everything going on in Hell I hadn’t realized.” she grimaced. “There’s an uprising taking place. The makings of a coup. I’ve got it under control for now, but...” she pursed her lips. “I’m going to need you boys’ help to end it.” she turned to Jack. “Or maybe just yours.”

“We’ll get to it later,” Dean dismissed, “Portal first.”

“Right.” Rowena motioned to Sam. “I’ve got a spell that’ll work, but I need some assistance. And some ingredients.”

“I can get them,” Jack answered instantly, “Anything you need.”

“Wonderful.”

~*~

They finished the spell not long later. After a burst of purple light, a thin slit of light emerged. It expanded to its full length, just a few inches under Dean’s height. 

_ Cas’s height _ . He thought to himself, remembering how the angel was always a bit shorter than him when they stood next to one another. 

Tears sprung to his eyes at the thought of him. He forcefully blinked them away. Now wasn’t the time for tears. Tears were for hopelessness, for spiraling into despair in your darkest hour, for realizing all that you’ve lost and how you’ll never get it back. 

But he wasn’t lost. They could see him. They could find him. And he would bring him back. That thought--that shy glimmer of hope--burned in his heart, fueling the determined fire within him. 

“Okay,” Sam got to his feet. “Let’s go.”

“No,” Dean held up a hand, “I’ll go. The rest of you stay here.”

“You want to face the Empty alone?” Sam questioned.  _ That could be suicide. _ he thought to himself. He’d already lost a friend; he couldn’t lose his brother. 

He stepped to his side. “No, we’ll do this together.”

Dean shook his head. ‘The Empty’s already got it out for Jack. And I don’t want anybody else getting hurt.”

“But Dean--”

He looked up to meet his younger brother’s gaze. His expression softened when he noticed the concern etched in his face. 

For a moment, Dean let his guard slip. “I need to do this one myself.” he lowered his voice. “There are some things I’ve been meaning to say to him. If nothing else, I want the chance to tell him.”

Sam knew his brother well. His words were shallow, but the meaning they conveyed was deep. Realization slowly seeped into his mind.

He nodded and stepped back. “Okay. Just be safe.”

“I'll be as safe as I’ve ever been,” Dean chuckled lightly, trying to put them at ease. It didn’t work. 

Dean moved to the portal. But before he passed through, he turned back to his family one last time. To his kid, who’d grown up to be God, to Sam, the brother who’d been with him through the thick and thin of everything, who’d fought relentlessly by his side. 

Doubt flickered in his mind.  _ Could this be the last time I ever see them?  _

No. He immediately pushed it aside. Dean was going to go into the Empty. He was going to haul Cas’s angelical ass back here, and they were going to finally enjoy freedom, free will, as a family. 

He gave them a half-smile. “I’ll be back.”

Without another thought, he stepped through the sliver of light. 

~*~

Dean had expected the Empty to be louder. 

Based on what they’d said--how Jack’s bomb had made the Empty loud--he’d expected there to be some type of ringing, some resounding effect of the blast. 

But there was nothing but eerie quietness, so silent the only noise Dean could hear was his heart pounding in his ears. 

All that stretched above, below, before, and behind Dean was darkness, a bleak, black void. If he looked too long or too far, he’d trick himself into thinking he was falling through a bottomless pit, surrounded solely by open air. But he could feel solid ground beneath his feet (or, semi-solid at least). The inky floor rippled with each step he took like he was walking over shallow water. 

He started into the Empty. His mind whirled with possible ideas to keep track of his steps to trace his way back to the portal, but with no change in scenery, it'd be difficult. He decided to head in only one direction--forward--and to count his steps along the way. 

As he went in further, he started to come across other bodies, other angels and demons. He recognized a few faces of those he’d killed, some of who still haunted his nightmares. They seemed peacefully asleep now, in this supernatural limbo, safely tucked away from everything and anything that could bother them. 

As Dean neared them, he noticed something strange. There were several, black tentacles running through the angels’ ears, neck, and up their arms and legs. They connected the angel to the Empty as if they were hooked up to some giant, black machine. 

As quietly as he could, Dean crouched down to examine them. The tentacles pumped something light-colored, a glowing substance, from the angels into the Empty surrounding them. It took Dean a moment to realize what it was:

Angelic grace. 

The Empty was sapping it from the sleeping angels and using it to fuel itself.  _ For what?  _ To make it quiet? To sustain itself? 

An image of Cas hooked up to the same series of tentacles flashed in Dean’s mind. It made him shudder. He hastily got back to his feet and continued his search, now with even more determination (or was it desperation) than he had before. 

He found him. 

His angel stood before him, held up by a dark, elevated portion of the floor. With the tentacles running from his ears, arms, and legs, he looked like he was hooked up to some monstrous machine. 

Dean’s chest ached at the sight. 

As he drew closer, he noticed Cas’s eyes. They weren’t closed and peaceful like the others; they were fluttering as his eyes moved, roving over the scene before him before locking on Dean. 

“Dean,” his name was a quiet murmur against the silence of the Empty, but it was all Dean heard. A series of emotions flooded him and wrapped tightly around his chest, making it hard to breathe. 

Dean gave him a reassuring smile as he approached him. “Hey, buddy. Don’t worry, I’m going to get you out of here.” 

Castiel shuddered as he fought to focus on the man in front of him. The lull of the Empty, trying to pull him back into blissful sleep was difficult to resist. But he had to. He’d been fighting for Dean for the past 12 years--he wasn’t going to stop now. 

He was saying something, something Cas couldn’t make out over the deafening silence of the Empty. He blinked, doing whatever he could to stay awake. _ Just keep focus. Focus. Focus. _

“He can’t hear you.”

The icy voice pierced the air, instantly drawing Dean’s attention to it. His soft expression hardened as turned to see who it was. 

Meg--the Empty--stood behind Dean. Her pale figure stuck out sorely against the rest of the inky blackness. 

Dean stepped back, shielding Cas from her as she sauntered towards them. 

Her lips twisted into a cruel smile. “And even if he could, it’s not like he’d believe you.” she tilted her head back, projecting her voice to speak to the expanse around them. “Isn’t that right?” 

The echo of her voice was met with a hiss, followed by a series of whispers. They swirled around Cas in thin wisps of low voices, too quiet for Dean to make out. 

But they were all Castiel heard, filtering through the tentacles directly into his ears. 

_ He’s not there. _

_ He’s not real.  _

_ You’re dreaming.  _

_ It’s time to rest.  _

“I’ll make this simple for you, Dean,” the Empty went on, “I want two things: for you to leave and for him to sleep, so I can sleep.” she gestured to the space around her. “I spent all this time--all this grace--trying to quiet the Empty once again. I’d like to be able to enjoy it with you knuckleheads continuing to run amuck,” she spat. 

Dean held up his hands. “Oh trust me, I don’t want to stick around. Why don’t you just hand him over to me, and we’ll be out of your hair in seconds.”

The Empty let out a joyless laugh. “Yeah right. He’s mine. He made a deal. I don’t break deals.”

“Yeah, well neither do I,” Dean countered, as he took a step towards her, “I promised to stick by him, no matter what. I said I would never leave him, that I would never stop fighting for him. That’s a promise I won’t break.”

Meg snorted. “Good luck keeping it.” she motioned to Cas. 

Dean’s attention instantly flew back to him. His angel’s eyes were closing as he faded back into sleep. 

“Cas!  _ Cas _ .” Dean ran to him. He grabbed his shoulders, trying to shake him awake. “Hey, hey, stay with me.” he cupped a hand to his face. “ _ Please _ .”

Castiel wanted to believe him, but the whispers were drowning out his voice. The Empty was winning over his thoughts, ensnaring his mind to pull him back. 

“I can’t,” Castiel muttered, “You’re not real. I need to sleep.”

“No.” Dean’s voice was choked with desperation. “You need to stay awake. I need you--”

Tears pricked his eyes. He fought to keep them back, to keep them from welling in his throat. “I need you to stay awake. If not for good, then just for a moment.”

His mind flashed back to Cas’s confession, to the hours Dean spent on the cement floor of the bunker. A million words had flown through his mind, a million things he’d wanted to say but couldn’t. There were too many, too many emotions racing through him, too many realizations spinning in his mind. He didn’t know how to express it. 

But he did now. He couldn’t say everything, but he could say what he needed to. He could say the words that’d seared themselves into his mind, that’d been itching to be set free. 

“Just listen to me, please,” Dean begged, “Ever since that night, after what you said, I’ve been needing to tell you something. I--” 

His breath hitched as the words lodged in his throat. He forced himself to say them. He had to say them. 

“I love you.” his voice was weak, but his words were strong. “I’ve loved you for  _ years _ , a decade even. I loved you during the apocalypse when we thought the world was about to end. I loved you in Purgatory when I prayed to you each night. I loved you when you fell when you were working at that dumpy gas station. I loved you when you were possessed. I’ve loved you every second I’ve spent with you, over every drink we’ve shared, during any car ride or case. Even when I didn’t know, when I couldn’t place the feelings inside me, I loved you.” 

He drew a breath. Now that he'd started confessing, he couldn’t stop. His feeling gushed from him, flowing out in the words he finally knew how to say. 

“I love every bit of you. Your dopey smile, your bright eyes. The jokes you make, and the ones you don’t quite get. The way you fight, your determination to do what’s right.” he swallowed the lump forming in his throat. “I love it. I love you.”

Dean held his breath as he waited for Cas’s response. His eyes were unfocused, but his lips trembled, working their way into a lopsided smile. 

“Dean,” he breathed. His hand twitched as if he were trying to reach out to him.

“No!” The Empty shouted. She slammed her foot against the floor, sending out harsh waves instead of ripples. “Don’t listen to him! He’s not real! He doesn’t care!”   


Dean whirled around. “Can it!”

“It’s true! He’s not here! It’s just a dream! It’s just what you want to see.” Meg drew a shaky breath and lowered her voice to something that was supposed to be soothing. “Just go back to sleep.  _ Sleep _ . You want to sleep.”

_ Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. _ the whispers chanted. Castiel’s eyes drooped. He couldn’t stay awake for long. He couldn’t…he couldn’t…

“No!” Dean grabbed either side of his angel’s face to keep his head from lolling, to keep him from slipping away. 

“Give it up Dean!” the Empty yelled, “You’ve played your last cards, and they couldn’t beat mine. He’s already gone. You’ve already lost him!”

Dean kept his gaze focused on Cas’s face, just inches from his. She was right. He’d laid himself bare, and it hadn’t been enough. But he still had one last ace up his sleeve.

“No, I haven’t.” 

Dean closed the small space between them as he pressed his lips to Cas’s. It was something both men had dreamed of for years, a fleeting thought that passed through their minds every now and then. They’d both written it off as something that would never happen. They were both wrong. 

Small scraps of remaining grace stirred up inside of Castiel. He felt them glow within him, rising up to the surface, brimming just under his skin. The sensation of the kiss fueled them, strengthening them until his grace was too powerful to contain. 

Cas’s eyes glowed brightly. The tentacles connected to him burst, showering the two of them in sparks and dark smoke. 

“NO!” the Empty shrieked. The blast echoed through the dark expanse, piercing the silence with an intense ringing. 

The Empty covered her ears. “Stop! It can’t be loud! It can’t be loud!” 

Castiel blinked. The whispers and his tiredness were gone, but his mind was still stuck in a daze, trying to process everything Dean had said, what they’d done. 

Dean’s firm grip on his forearm brought him back. A burning sensation pricked his arm where Dean touched him, searing his hold into Cas’s skin. 

“C’mon man, we gotta go!” 

Dean pulled Cas as they raced through the Empty back to the portal. The ringing of the blast and the Empty’s screams followed them as they ran. Adrenaline pumped through both of them, spurred by the fear of what might happen if the Empty caught up to them. 

But she didn’t. Relief sparked in Dean when he spotted the portal, the sliver of swaying light against the blackness. 

Hand-in-had, Dean and Cas threw themselves into it together. 

~*~

Dean and Cas reemerged in the bunker, stumbling at their feet hit the floor. Going from the rippling ink to solid wood was a bit of a shock for both of them, but they managed to catch their balance, using one another to stand. 

Sam leaped up from his chair. “You’re back!” he smiled as his eyes shifted from Dean to Cas. “You’re alright.”

Dean and Cas exchanged a look. “Better even,” Dean answered. 

Cas nodded, giving him a soft, half-smile as he took Dean’s hand into his. 

“Awe, aren’t you two just the cutest,” someone cooed. 

Dean turned towards the voice and found Donna, sitting between Jody and their girls at the bunker table. Eileen sat across from them, next to the seat Sam just got up from. 

“Took ‘em long enough,” Jody commented with a smirk.

“You betcha,” Donna agreed as she took a sip of what looked like coffee. 

Dean blinked. “What--,” he turned to Sam, “When did they get here?” 

“I called them not long after you left,” his brother explained, “I wanted to make sure they were all good, and to have them as backup just in case things went south.”

Dean nodded, shifting his attention to the others. “Well, it’s good to see you all again.”

“Same to you,” Eileen answered. 

“Yeah,” Jody chimed in, raising her glass, “Congrats on killing God.” she looked at Jack. “And on becoming him.”

The others chuckled as Jack held up his hands. “Please, it’s still just me, just Jack.”

The conversation started to pick up. Castiel wanted to join in, to finally let go of everything and just “hang-out,” but something was bothering him. There was still a prickling feeling where Dean had grabbed his arm. It was low enough for Castiel to edge up his sleeve and catch a small glimpse of it. 

His eyes widened when he saw it. 

He touched Dean’s shoulder to get his attention. “Dean.”

He spun back to his angel. “What is it?” 

“Can I talk to you?” he eyed the others. “Privately.”

There were a few sly looks from the others, followed by some whispers and giggles. Dean ignored and kept his eyes on Cas. He nodded. 

“Sure,” Dean said to him, then loudly to their friends. “We’ll be back.”

“What is it?” Dean asked, the second he closed the door behind the two of them. The concern etched on his face had deepened in the minutes it’d taken them to get to his room. 

Castiel made his way to the mirror. He steeled himself with a breath before rolling up the sleeve of his shirt and coat. “This.”

He pulled the cuffs up to his elbow, making the mark fully visible. It was a brand, seared into his arm in the shape of a handprint. Dean’s handprint. 

Stunned, Dean blinked. He stared at it for several moments, before his lips twisted into a grin. He shrugged off his jacket and moved to his angel’s side. He pushed up the short sleeve of his shirt, revealing the handprint on his shoulder. Cas’s handprint--the one he’d left after raising him from perdition. 

Dean chuckled lightly. “We match.” but after a moment, his smile faltered. “Wait, I thought the mark could be left on a human soul. You aren’t--”

Castiel looked down, unable to meet Dean’s gaze or look at himself. “I’m not an angel anymore. Overcoming the Empty, it took the last bit of my grace.” 

It’d been fading for months, Cas could feel it. But now, he couldn’t feel anything, not a single scrap of power. He was hollow. 

But when Dean touched him, he felt a bit fuller. He wrapped his arms around Cas and held him close. 

“I’m sorry,” Dean said in a low voice. His voice, his touch--the feeling was overwhelming. Castiel’s heart was melting as tears sprung to his eyes. 

“It’ll be alright,” Cas replied, trying to keep his voice from cracking. “I would’ve rather lost it than you.”

Dean’s grip tightened. “Me too.”

~*~

They rejoined the group sometime later when things were starting to wind down. Sam had pulled out a few beers and passed them around to the others. He had his arm around Eileen, who’d laid her head on his shoulder, just as Donna had rested hers on Jody. She’d closed her eyes and was looking as though she was about to drift off, but her face was still lit with a faint smile. 

Dean settled in next to his brother, on his right, with Cas on his left. He still held his hand tightly in his, with their fingers intertwined. They’d barely been able to let go of one another since their return. 

After a few peaceful moments, Jody spoke up. 

“So, where do we go from here?” she asked. 

It took the others some time to come up with an answer. 

“Wherever we want,” Sam replied, “Chuck’s gone, meaning we’re finally the masters of our own story. Whatever we do is up to us.”

“I could take us somewhere,” Jack chimed in, “Or, anywhere now actually.” An idea sparked in his eye. “We could go on vacation. I heard Hawaii is nice this time of year.” 

The other hunters chuckled. 

“Hawaii can wait,” Dean said with an easygoing smile, “For now, I’d just like to spend some time here with all you guys.”

The others couldn’t help but agree. 


End file.
